This a completely new edition, updated and extended from the original 2009 publication. It includes important changes in the basic framework of the repertoire and presents lots of new ideas and hundreds of novelties.

The Sicilian Defence is the most widely played chess opening, both at club level as well as among top grandmasters. Since Black gets dynamic play in almost all variations, Black players of all levels will probably continue to play the Sicilian for a long time to come.

It has been difficult for White to obtain any advantage in Sicilian sidelines, and this book therefore presents a complete repertoire for White in the most important main lines: the Open Sicilians with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3. Each variation is presented with its main ideas, its typical tactics and strategies, and with instructive games. The authors always summarize the most important features.

Jesus de la Villa (1958) is a Grandmaster born in Spain. He is a successful author and a well-known chess coach. He has won the Spanish Championship twice.

Max Illingworth (1992) is an Australian Grandmaster, author and coach. He won the Australian Championship in 2014.

Michael Mkpadi, ChessHot: “This book has to get extra credit for having a very generous selection of recent games at the highest level. The chapter have summaries and the themes and strategic ideas are highlighted in a very accessible and exciting format (..) This book’s new edition is so good it made me regret all the White games where I had be slaughtered by Black because I did not know how to handle Black’s Sicilian variation.”

Florian Jacobs, Max Euwe Centre Amsterdam:“An essential book for club players who wish to combat the Open Sicilian in a fundamental way.”

Elburg Chess Reviews:“A smashing update!”

IM John Donaldson:“A bonus chapter at the end of the book entitled ‘What others recommend and why I disagree’ (..) includes lines that don’t necessarily fit into the finale repertoire Illingworth is advocating, but which helps explain why he chose what he did. There is some fascinating stuff here, and the non-professional will be surprised how theory has changed (..) These new advances can be seen in Illingworth’s assessment of the health of various Sicilian lines these days (..) Numerous well-annotated model games supplement the theoretical sections of each chapter, making this book accessible for a wide range of players.”